More than 5,000 people take part in ‘marathon’

    More than 5,000 people took part in the 2^nd Almaty Charity Marathon, Tengrinews.kz reports, citing the Almaty City Akimat (municipal authorities).
    The “Courage to be First Marathon” was held on April 28. Akim of Almaty Akhmetzhan Yessimov, prominent athletes, culture, show-business and businesspersons, professional runners and amateurs participated.
    “Our marathon has become a traditional event. We’ve included it into the schedule of the city’s sports events and we will hold it every year. 2,000 people ran the marathon last year, and 5,000 people took part in the event this year. Almaty citizens are taking to healthy lifestyle. Our city is a regional leader, so we should be in the lead in everything,” Akhmetzhan Yessimov said.
    The event was meant to promote the international movement to support Boston that suffered from consecutive explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Yessimov expressed his condolences to the families of those killed or injured in the blasts, and said the sport was meant to promote peace and development of human abilities, according to www.tengrinews.kz.